The many interests of a modern techno-geek

Recently I installed DS285 Cyclic servos and DS290G Tail servo on my Blade 400.  Here is a quick overview of what I did to get them installed:

The first step is to remove all of the zip ties holding the servo wires down and to record where everything went.  Then, take the servo pins out of the RX and remove the servos:

I noticed the supplied servo mounting screws were much too big for the holes in the Blade 400, and I did not want to drill out the holes, so I devised a plan for using the original mounting screws with the new DS285 servos.  As you can see the screw heads are so small they could easily fall through the DS285 mounting holes:

So, I figured out I could use the brass eyelets supplied with the servos to mount using the original screws.  I also used the rubber grommets in all locations except the tail servo because they would not fit in the tail servo mount.  To make the brass eyelets fit you have to cut them down to size (they are too long as you can see in the picture below).

To cut down the brass eyelets, I first put it onto one of my spare allen wrenches:

Then I used a pair of strong wire cutters to snip them in half:

Now it all fits nicely, and the little screws can reach the mounting holes.  Put the rubber grommets on the servo, the cut down eyelets into the grommets, and then screw the servo down until it is tight:

Here are two DS285‘s after installation:

Make sure you take those small servo horns off and use the bigger ones (except for the tail servo, keep the small horn on that one):

Let me know if you have any more questions!

I also found it a real pain in the BUTT to install the DS290G in the servo mount, but it can be done.  If you want you can buy a tail servo mount but you might also need a new control rod.

Final Note: I ended up putting my left and right cyclic servo’s ball links on the inside of the servo horn.  I did this in order to have a less angled control arm to the swashplate.  To get the ball links to fit, you just need to enlarge the holes in the arm very slightly.  You will want to re-bind the receiver to the TX after the servo install.  The instructions are in the DX6i manual, but basically with everything turned off, plug the bind plug into the BATT slot of the receiver, then turn on the receiver (if you plug in your battery into the ESC for this, have the motor wires disconnected) then hold the TRAINER switch While turning on your DX6i.  Make sure your sticks and switches are where you want them to be for failsafe mode. The receiver’s light should go from flashing quickly to solid.